Dao Tien Express — Restaurant in Florissant

I had the Clay pot chicken, which was really good. Basically it’s chicken cooked in a clay pot with onions and butter. Simple and really delicious. I was surprised there was a touch of sweetness to it, and really enjoyed that aspect. It was not spicy, but it was “warm”.

It came with rice, of course, and a small side salad, which I was going to ignore. But when I got a taste of the dressing, which you can’t really see, it was sweet and tangy and very nice. Another reviewer talked about her salad being wilted, but if she got it to go, and they put it in the warm rice container, like they did with mine, that’s what’s going to happen. Also, would she consider a “pasta house“ type of salad “limp”? To me, it was the same kind of thing here.

My friend had the Curry basil fried rice. It was way too spicy for me, but then I’m a little baby about that. Spice level four, out of five, was ordered, and it was plenty hot, but we paid a bit extra for a little container of their spicy chili paste (that they make in house), and he quite enjoyed that. I could see the steam coming out of his ears, ha ha. Everything in the fried rice, I was told, was well distributed, and the beef slices were big and tender.

While everything else was good, their lemon cake just about made me swoon, lol. The frosting seemed to be whipped cream based, light and fluffy, and the cake was thick and moist. Good sized piece, too. I would go back there just for the cake. No picture, ummm, because, I smashed it in my face and forgot.

All in all, good lunch. I thought it was expensive, but then I think everything is, so you can’t go by me. 😊

We had takeout, and I was a little disappointed at the Styrofoam packaging, but ordering was easy over the phone (the gal who answered was helpful and courteous). When I picked up my order, it was ready pretty quick, and the place looked bright and clean (maybe 10 tables?).

Nice addition to...

We used to love Dao Tien on Olive when it was going and thought we would try this. We so wanted to like it. It is in strip mall and small but they have tables and table service. When we ordered, they were out of fried rice. They had steamed rice. I’m thinking, I have never heard of being out of fried rice if you have a wok and steamed rice. I looked around and the kitchen, even the pass is enshrouded in heavy curtains. Why is that? As it turns out, the food was reheated. I think the main cooking instrument is a microwave. It was still cold. Nothing we had was freshly prepared. My partner ordered chicken but got a couple of bites of tough gristly, old what he believed to be beef. My banh mi had stale bread and anything green was off color and old. The meat was dried out. One of the main attributes of a banh mi is supposed to be the crisp fresh French bread and fresh vegetables. No one asked how the food was. I do think they make the egg rolls as they were making them in the...

I was very excited to see we had a Vietnamese restaurant in Florissant--Vermicelli bowl right around the corner! Unfortunately on my first visit they were out of vermicelli. I ended up getting Pad Thai, it was decent but missing a flavor that I can't put my finger on. I also tried a steamed pork bun. It was my first time trying one so I have nothing to compare it to. I ate the whole thing but don't know if I'd get it again.

The lighting in the place was colored and made it a little difficult to read the menu. The restaurant was clean and the staff were very kind. It was near closing when I was in, and the owner and staff sat down to eat their dinner. They shared some delicious pork belly and ribs with me, along with a squash soup. The owner told me that it's not on the current menu because they're short staffed. Apparently it was on the menu at the closed location. It was gooood! Can't wait to go back and get a...